BLAZE: Bettering the lives of animals in zoo environments

Gemstone Team BLAZE

FarmKids 2007 – 2008

Farmkids (styled as FARMkids) is an Australian animated comedy series about a bunch of pampered zoo animals accidentally being shipped to a dude ranch. 13 episodes aired in Series 1 and another 13 in Series 2 (2007-2008)

Aplicação da acupuntura em animais silvestres

This study will focus on one part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), acupuncture - utilized as therapy method for pathologies treatment in humans and animals - , as well as its main techniques. Acupuncture is one branch of TCM, originated from theoretical and empirical knowledge accumulated by popular medicine. Currently, researches performed in humans and animals have shown the effectiveness of this method as an assistance or alternative in illnesses treatment. Besides that, professionals are not merely looking for orthodox medicine knowledge, but also specializations and improvement over the complementary therapies area. There are diverse studies and researches which were and are being done in veterinary, relating the effectiveness of acupuncture in small and large animals. In comparison, in the wild animals’ area the numbers of studies is smaller. However, it is expected that this number increases over the fact that some of these animals’ species are entering the pet market and also because of the possibility of using these methods for treatment and prevention of diseases on zoo animals or other animals kept in captivity

Distribution and genetic variability among Campylobacter spp. isolates from different animal species and humans in Switzerland

In Switzerland, a national database with 1028 Campylobacter isolates from poultry, pigs, cats, dogs, cattle, humans, zoo animals and water has been created. The database contains the genetic fingerprint and background information of each Campylobacter isolate. Dominant species could be identified in the different sources with a majority of Campylobacter jejuni in poultry (73%), humans (79%), cattle (95%), zoo animals (40%) and water (100%), of Campylobacter coli in pigs (72%), and of Campylobacter upsaliensis/helveticus in cats and dogs (55%). The comparison of three genotyping methods, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), pulsed field gel electrophoresis and restriction fragment length polymorphism, revealed that AFLP allows discrimination between the different Campylobacter species and is the most appropriate method to distinguish specific strains within the same species. Genotyping analysis demonstrated that the Campylobacter population is heterogeneous among the different sources and that no dominant clone is spread in the country. Genotyping and the resulting database are useful tools to trace back future Campylobacter infections.

Dynamics of a Tularemia Outbreak in a Closely Monitored Free-Roaming Population of Wild House Mice.

Infectious disease outbreaks can be devastating because of their sudden occurrence, as well as the complexity of monitoring and controlling them. Outbreaks in wildlife are even more challenging to observe and describe, especially when small animals or secretive species are involved. Modeling such infectious disease events is relevant to investigating their dynamics and is critical for decision makers to accomplish outbreak management. Tularemia, caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis, is a potentially lethal zoonosis. Of the few animal outbreaks that have been reported in the literature, only those affecting zoo animals have been closely monitored. Here, we report the first estimation of the basic reproduction number R0 of an outbreak in wildlife caused by F. tularensis using quantitative modeling based on a susceptible-infected-recovered framework. We applied that model to data collected during an extensive investigation of an outbreak of tularemia caused by F. tularensis subsp. holarctica (also designated as type B) in a closely monitored, free-roaming house mouse (Mus musculus domesticus) population in Switzerland. Based on our model and assumptions, the best estimated basic reproduction number R0 of the current outbreak is 1.33. Our results suggest that tularemia can cause severe outbreaks in small rodents. We also concluded that the outbreak self-exhausted in approximately three months without administrating antibiotics.

Natural and experimental oral infection of nonhuman primates by bovine spongiform encephalopathy agents

Experimental lemurs either were infected orally with the agent of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or were maintained as uninfected control animals. Immunohistochemical examination for proteinase-resistant protein (prion protein or PrP) was performed on tissues from two infected but still asymptomatic lemurs, killed 5 months after infection, and from three uninfected control lemurs. Control tissues showed no staining, whereas PrP was detected in the infected animals in tonsil, gastrointestinal tract and associated lymphatic tissues, and spleen. In addition, PrP was detected in ventral and dorsal roots of the cervical spinal cord, and within the spinal cord PrP could be traced in nerve tracts as far as the cerebral cortex. Similar patterns of PrP immunoreactivity were seen in two symptomatic and 18 apparently healthy lemurs in three different French primate centers, all of which had been fed diets supplemented with a beef protein product manufactured by a British company that has since ceased to include beef in its veterinary nutritional products. This study of BSE-infected lemurs early in their incubation period extends previous pathogenesis studies of the distribution of infectivity and PrP in natural and experimental scrapie. The similarity of neuropathology and PrP immunostaining patterns in experimentally infected animals to those observed in both symptomatic and asymptomatic animals in primate centers suggests that BSE contamination of zoo animals may have been more widespread than is generally appreciated.

Detecting immigration by using multilocus genotypes

Immigration is an important force shaping the social structure, evolution, and genetics of populations. A statistical method is presented that uses multilocus genotypes to identify individuals who are immigrants, or have recent immigrant ancestry. The method is appropriate for use with allozymes, microsatellites, or restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) and assumes linkage equilibrium among loci. Potential applications include studies of dispersal among natural populations of animals and plants, human evolutionary studies, and typing zoo animals of unknown origin (for use in captive breeding programs). The method is illustrated by analyzing RFLP genotypes in samples of humans from Australian, Japanese, New Guinean, and Senegalese populations. The test has power to detect immigrant ancestors, for these data, up to two generations in the past even though the overall differentiation of allele frequencies among populations is low.

Infant diet/care notebook /

Includes bibliographies.

Principles of zoölogy : touching the structure, development, distribution, and natural arrangement of the races of animals, living and extinct : with numerous illustrations : Part I : comparative physiology for the use of schools and colleges /

No more published.

Animals verinosos. 'Animales venenosos'.

Material educativo realizado por los profesionales del Departament d'Educació del Zoològic de Barcelona destinado al último ciclo de educación infantil y educación primaria para el estudio de animales peligrosos, como es el caso de algunas serpientes. El tema se trabaja a partir de una serie de actividades e imágenes que ilustran el tema.

Animals salvatges. 'Animales salvajes'.

Herramienta de estudio de los animales salvajes. Incluye un paquete de actividades Clic divididas en dos niveles de dificultad, donde se trabajan grafías, números y sonidos. Se acompaña de una guía para el profesor donde se proponen más actividades: la presentación de los animales, el trabajo del proyecto de un animal, una salida al zoo, una sesión de psicomotricidad y actividades musicales. La propuesta se puede vincular al trabajo de un centro de interés o de un proyecto desarrollado en el aula. Las actividades planteadas globalizan objetivos y contenidos de todas las áreas curriculares, pero sobre todo las de lenguaje verbal, lenguaje matemático y el área de conocimiento del entorno natural y social.

Coneguem els animals al Parc Zoològic : Cicle Inicial. 'Conozcamos los animales en el Parque Zoológico : Ciclo Inicial'.

Se incluyen recomedaciones de cuentos y narraciones

Coneguem els animals al Parc Zoològic. 'Conozcamos los animales en el Parque Zoológico'.

Cuaderno educativo destinado al profesorado del ciclo medio de Educación Primaria. Su finalidad es acercar al alumnado al animal y poder descubrir sus morfologías y singularismos con facilidad. En concreto este cuaderno trata el tema de las aves, los mamíferos y las características generales de los vertebrados. Más a más, recogen en él una serie de sugerencias para el trabajo en clase. Por último, hay un apartado de bibliografía, apartado que se divide en: bibliografía para los alumnos y bibliografía para el maestro.

Coneguem els animals al Parc Zoològic : cicle mitjà.'Conozcamos los animales en el Parque Zoológico : ciclo medio'.

Incluye bibliografía diferenciada para maestros y alumnos

Epidemiology of leptospirosis at Sorocaba Zoo, São Paulo state, Southeastern Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)